the past few days i have noticed pale dots developing on our cardinal tetra's tail fin and other fins. they almost look like little air bubbles but when you look closer you notice they're discoloration on the fin. does anyone know what this is?

also, the tetra is starting to lose its red belly color. any suggestions?

thank you in advance!

scooterjuniuspilot

03-03-2009 12:54 AM

- 3 gallon aquarium
- freshwater
- only been setup for a week - the fish store people didn't tell us otherwise :-?
- the tank has one cardinal tetra, one silver molly, one red wag platy, one apple snail, and two ghost shrimp
- no live plants in the aquarium
- water is 78F
- whisper 2-10i filter
- no CO2 unit
- no natural sunlight
- changed a third of the water two days ago because ammonia was high
- plan on once-a-week water changes
- i feed the fish 3 times a day a little bit of tropical fish flakes
- i use an LED light that came with the tank. it stays on for about 12 hours a day
- pH is 7.6 ammonia is 4 nitrite is 0 and nitrate is 1
- i use an API liquid test kit
- we bought the fish a little over a week ago and it was one of many crammed into a tank.

sorry for the lack of information in the first post!

scooterjuniuspilot

03-03-2009 01:28 AM

okay its been almost 12 hours since the original post and the spots on the tetra are now all over the body. i was looking at the spots closely and they might be raised.. its hard to tell. if anyone has any idea what this is please let me know.. thanks!

1077

03-03-2009 04:17 AM

Sounds like possible parasite ICH. you may not appreciate the recommendation but were it me,, I would remove the fish and hopefully the other fish will not be affected. You were given very poor advice in regards to stocking your tank. The cardinal tetra prefers water with Ph values of 6.0 to 6.8 and soft. your water is too hard for this fish. Attempting to alter your Ph will only cause you more problems. You may wish to do As I attempted to relay in a previous post regarding your tank. Feed the fish once every two or even three days and no more than you see them eat in 30 to40 seconds.The fish will not starve and water quality will not suffer. Your tank is too small for three daily feedings and any uneaten food that falls to the bottom will cause water quality to suffer which in turn stresses the fish which then leads to sick or dead fish. You have no choice in my view, but to do as mentioned earlier , Change one gal of water for new water that has been treated with a dechlorinator every two days. If you will do this your fish MIGHT survive. If not ,,the prognosis is poor.;-)

scooterjuniuspilot

03-03-2009 03:48 PM

thank you for your time and the suggestions, but when i woke up this morning i saw my tetra was dead and caught in the filter :-(